SINGAPORE: Malaysia and Singa*pore will sign an agreement on the Rapid Transit System (RTS) before the end of this year.

Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk Ilango Karuppan*nan said the link to connect both countries would be a high bridge.

"After the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the High Speed Rail in December last year, this project will be another game changer," he said.

Besides the high bridge, it is learnt that there had been other options such as an undersea tunnel.

Ilango said the RTS was an extension from Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station from Wood*lands to Johor Baru.

"Once this project is completed, it will greatly boost connectivity for thousands of people commuting between both countries daily," he said, adding that the station on the Malaysian side would be at Bukit Chagar.

Asked about the project, he said the station would be located on the ground while the tracks would gradually increase to a height of several metres before descending when the train approached it.

He also said bilateral relationship between both countries was at an all-time high.

Ilango, who has been a career diplomat for 30 years, will be returning to Malaysia at the end of this month following a one-year stint in Singapore.

In his farewell speech during a gathering at his official residence Rumah Malaysia here, he said he was happy that he managed to accomplish three years of work in one.

"It has been a hectic year for me but I treasure the friendship and experience here," Ilango said.

At least 100 people comprising ambassadors from other countries, and officials from Singapore and Malaysia attended the event.

SINGAPORE: Malaysia and Singa*pore will sign an agreement on the Rapid Transit System (RTS) before the end of this year.

Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk Ilango Karuppan*nan said the link to connect both countries would be a high bridge.

"After the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the High Speed Rail in December last year, this project will be another game changer," he said.

Besides the high bridge, it is learnt that there had been other options such as an undersea tunnel.

Ilango said the RTS was an extension from Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station from Wood*lands to Johor Baru.

"Once this project is completed, it will greatly boost connectivity for thousands of people commuting between both countries daily," he said, adding that the station on the Malaysian side would be at Bukit Chagar.

Asked about the project, he said the station would be located on the ground while the tracks would gradually increase to a height of several metres before descending when the train approached it.

He also said bilateral relationship between both countries was at an all-time high.

Ilango, who has been a career diplomat for 30 years, will be returning to Malaysia at the end of this month following a one-year stint in Singapore.

In his farewell speech during a gathering at his official residence Rumah Malaysia here, he said he was happy that he managed to accomplish three years of work in one.

"It has been a hectic year for me but I treasure the friendship and experience here," Ilango said.

At least 100 people comprising ambassadors from other countries, and officials from Singapore and Malaysia attended the event.

RTS or not, JB really has to seriously start on the road network/system improvement now!
When all the new condos (about 20,000 units) in the city area is all completed and tenants move in, plus also the completion of another few very large shopping malls, can imagine the mega traffic jams in JB.
Many roads now are narrow and made worse by illegal and discriminate parking all over.
With so many new tenants living in the city area soon, as many new cars will be added onto the already congested roads.
Roads need to be widen, realigned and the whole network redesigned to cater for this increased of city dwellers and shoppers.

If they really go ahead with the RTS, then the authorities need to come up with a comprehensive transportation proposal for areas surrounding the RTS station.
The RTS requires a proper connectivity plan that provides smooth transit for the commuters arriving and departing the station.
This has to be done proactively.
Every few minutes when the train arrives from SG, hundreds of commuters will be disembarking, clear the CIQ and leaves the station.
Can imagine the mega chaotic scene with taxis, cars, buses jamming up all the roads around the station, drivers waiting to pickup, drivers dropping people off............cars can't come in, cars can't go out, cars got stuck in a massive jam...........
It probably takes less than 10mins to travel from SG to the JB station on the train but more than 30mins just to get out of the station!

TRX City is where the proposed HSR Terminal in KL located within.
This project is a 60/40 joint venture between the IWH CREC and Min Of Finance, while IWH CREC is joint venture between Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corp (M) Sdn Bhd (CREC).
So now with this joint venture agreement aborted, the Min of Finance has to start looking for "interested parties" to jointly develop this mega multi-billion project.
And since 1MDB/Min Of Finance had lost in the arbitration with IPIC in London, they need to pay up US$1.2 billions before this year end and later another US$3.2 billions, money is terribly short!

Hmm even China state company so big also default on the payment.
wonder what's going on.
Malaysia trying to paint a good picture but the underlying rationale for default is not known

Click to expand...

Something very strange is happening here.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal collapsed because the Chinese government refused to authorize the investment.
Earlier, there was was the strengthening of capital control exercise that caused big problems for Chinese buyers to make payment for their Forest City properties that many wanted to cancel their purchase.
And now this another very high profile development with massive Chinese money involvement affected.
Wonder what is really happening behind the scene.
Could it be China is now trying out more arm twisting tactics to get what they want at their price?

With the collapse of this TRX City project now, it means they had wasted 1.5 years in developing this mega project in time for the completion of the proposed HSR line into KL where the terminal will be located.
It also means 1MDB/Min Of Finance will not be able to realized proceeds from the sales of this assets in its grand "Rationalisation Plan", so where to get that US$1.2 billions to pay Abu Dhabi before the year ends??
Interesting!

The development of TRX City with the HSR Terminal incorporated within was one of the biggest and glamourous multi-billion project announced in late 2015.
Then, it was quite a celebrated affair with much fanfare thrown in.
And now, the project is unceremoniously aborted until the govt. finds another investor with lots of cash and a deep pocket.
It just shows that any agreement or MOU, even signed and witnessed by the whole media and top people, can fall through just as easily.

When the development was first announced, everybody was quite surprised that Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) and a Chinese partners at 60/40 was awarded the project..
IWH by all standard is only a small time developer with total net assets worth barely RM3.8 billion and its last share price traded at RM3.08 (less than S$1.00) and ever low at RM0.61, can be considered a penny stock company.
It has little experience in developing mega projects, more so this TRX City is an integrated project consisting commercial/offices/residential/hospitality/transportation hub plus the HSR Terminal complete with CIQ facilities.
Not surprising that this project cannot take off with IWH, perhaps they actually have difficulties in obtaining financing.
This large abandoned shopping centre, left to rot in JB city area attached here actually shows how successful IWH is.

A Malaysian-Chinese consortium that had planned to buy a majority stake in a property development project owned by a former unit of state fund 1MDB today refuted allegations that it had failed to make necessary payments.
Earlier this week, TRX City Sdn Bhd — a former unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) now owned by the Malaysian Finance Ministry — said the deal to sell 60 per cent of Bandar Malaysia had lapsed because the consortium failed to meet payment obligations.
In a statement today, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings, owned by Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo, and China Railway Engineering Corp (CREC), said TRX’s allegation that the share sale agreement has lapsed was “unacceptable.”
The consortium has fulfilled all the required payment obligations under the agreement on its part towards TRX, it said. — Reuters

Two days ago, TRX City owners (Min Of Finance) served consortium the termination notice giving reasons that they had failed to make the financial obligations despite several extension granted.
And now, the consortium cry foul and insist that they had already fulfilled all the required payment under the agreement.
Here, they are not talking about a small sum of money but about more than RM700 million!
Things are getting stranger and stranger by the day.

However, this sound very familiar, very much like the same 1MDB / IPIC story.
1MDB claimed they had paid IPIC US3.2billions to its subsidiary company.
IPIC claimed that they never receive it at all.
They went for arbitration in London to settle the issue.
It ended in a settlement with 1MDB having to pay IPIC which means IPIC had won and they had never received the money.
US$3.2 billions though is a lot of money but can be easily disappeared.

With the news last week that the Malaysian/Chinese consortium being served the termination notice to develop the Bandar Malaysia / TRX City, the first casualty had just emerged.
Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH), the 60% partner in the consortium had its shares hitting the limit-down.
Before the announcement, their shares was already at a low of RM3.08, it nosedived upon the announcement of the termination
IWH plunged RM0.92 or almost 30%, to a two-month low of RM2.16 yesterday, wiping out RM759.83 million of market capitalization

And the woes is not stopping here.
The IWH portion of the consortium is again a 60/40 partnership of IWH itself with Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor Sdn Bhd (KPRJ) respectively.
If it is really due to the Malaysian/Chinese Consortium failure to fulfil the contractual obligations as announced, then deposit of RM741 millions could be forfeited.
And this could means KPRJ’s share of about RM178 million being forfeited too.
KPRJ is a Johor government-linked company and the termination of the project plus the forfeiture will have a negative impact on KPRJ’s financial status and reputation.

Bandar Malaysia, the proposed development with the terminal for the HSR from SG to KL within, is not looking good.
The Wall Street Journal reported that China’s regulators had ordered the nation’s big banks to put the brakes on loans to Dalian Wanda Group, which had been approached by Prime Minister Najib Razak to help salvage the project.
And now, their knight on the white horse, Dalian Wanda Group, is getting into some very serious financial trouble back home.

Not only that, MY which lost in the IMDB arbitration with IPIC, has to pay US$1.8 billion to them, half the amount by end of this July and balance by year end.!
With the Budget already running into deficit, where are they going to get this huge sum of money???
Interesting.

ISKANDAR, MALAYSIA — A cross-border MRT link that will connect Singapore and Johor Baru in Malaysia is slated to begin passenger service by the end of 2024, ministers from the two countries announced on Monday (July 31).

It was also announced that Singapore rail company SMRT and Malaysia’s metro operator Prasarana Malaysia Berhad will be exploring having a joint venture, which is an operating company to help design, build, finance and operate the trains, tracks and systems for the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.

These were disclosed on Monday during the 13th meeting of the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia (JMCIM), held in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Baru. The committee was set up in 2007 as a collaboration between the two countries, and the meeting this round was co-chaired by Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

The RTS Link will connect Woodlands in Singapore and Johor Baru via a high bridge across the Straits of Johor, with a connection to Singapore’s upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line.

Once the RTS Link starts passenger service, the Tebrau train service run by Malaysian railway operator KTM Berhad will cease operations.

The link is expected to carry up to 10,000 passengers per direction per hour.

On the operating company for the RTS Link, the panel said that it would be directly appointed for the first concession period.

Singapore and Malaysia will each be appointing an infrastructure company to fund, build, own, maintain and upgrade the civil infrastructure and stations within their own countries.

Earlier last year, it was reported that the link will adopt the systems of Singapore’s Thomson-East Coast Line, including its signalling system, communication system and integrated supervisory control system.

The terminus for Singapore’s side of the RTS Link will be at Woodlands North station, along the Thomson-East Coast Line. Malaysia has also chosen Bukit Chagar in Johor Baru as its main terminal for the link.

At the meeting, the JMCIM noted the “substantiative progress” achieved by the High Speed Rail (HSR) Work Group in planning the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project. With the signing of the HSR bilateral agreement by the respective ministers on Dec 13 last year, the work of the HSR Work Group has been officially completed.

A HSR Bilateral Committee, led by senior government officials from both countries, has since been formed to oversee matters which may affect international services as well as other issues detailed in the bilateral agreement.

As for the upcoming HSR Assets Company tender, which will be called by the end of this year, interested parties were engaged on the tender parameters and procurement approach at a July industry briefing involving 165 entities from both countries and overseas.

The HSR Assets Company will be responsible for the design, build, finance and maintenance of rolling stock and operations of all rail assets, including network operations.

The JMCIM noted that the industry briefing was “well received” and also signalled the “continued strong interest from the market” on the project.

It was announced in July that six Singapore firms were teaming up to bid for projects related to the HSR. They are Clifford Capital, DBS, Sembcorp Design & Construction, SMRT International, Surbana Jurong and Singapore Technologies Electronics (ST Electronics).

The RTS Link will connect Woodlands in Singapore and Johor Baru via a high bridge across the Straits of Johor, with a connection to Singapore’s upcoming Thomson-East Coast Line.

Once the RTS Link starts passenger service, the Tebrau train service run by Malaysian railway operator KTM Berhad will cease operations.

The link is expected to carry up to 10,000 passengers per direction per hour.

On the operating company for the RTS Link, the panel said that it would be directly appointed for the first concession period.

Singapore and Malaysia will each be appointing an infrastructure company to fund, build, own, maintain and upgrade the civil infrastructure and stations within their own countries.

Earlier last year, it was reported that the link will adopt the systems of Singapore’s Thomson-East Coast Line, including its signalling system, communication system and integrated supervisory control system.

The terminus for Singapore’s side of the RTS Link will be at Woodlands North station, along the Thomson-East Coast Line. Malaysia has also chosen Bukit Chagar in Johor Baru as its main terminal for the link.

Click to expand...

10k people/hr is amazing but one can't help but wonder if MY custom can cope? both side need to automate more

MALAYSIA and Singapore are expected to sign a bilateral agreement for the Rapid Transit System (RTS) project in December, which will improve travel between the island republic and Johor.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan said several matters on the RTS were discussed during the 13th meeting of the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Minis-terial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia. According to the Singa-pore Straits Times, the service will start by Dec 31, 2024.

It was attended by Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Singapore Infrastructure and Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan and Singapore National Deve-lopment Minister Lawrence Wong, and was held at a hotel here yesterday.

Abdul Rahman said that the meeting was fruitful as both sides now have a better understanding of the RTS link.

“There were several technical matters that both sides agreed on during the meeting, such as the concession payment for the RTS where 61% will go to Singapore and 39% to Malaysia.

“The reason behind Singapore getting a higher percentage is that the cost for them to build the RTS line is higher compared to Malay-sia’s portion.

“The stations there will be built underground,” he added.

He said Malaysia asked to be a majority shareholder in the setting- up of a joint operating company to design, build, finance, operate, maintain and renew the link’s operating assets, but Singapore’s representatives said they needed to discuss the matter with their agencies.

“Singapore also informed us that they would be upgrading the Wood-lands Checkpoint to increase overall clearance capacity to ease congestion and enhance security.

“This will allow more KTM train trips between Singapore and Johor Baru, and we are also looking at providing better safety for pedestrians coming from both sides of the Causeway,” he said.